Magic cap preseason with sixth straight win

ORLANDO, Florida (Ticker) - Last time the San Antonio Spurs and
Orlando Magic met on Orlando's homecourt, Dwight Howard's
highlight reel dunk lifted the Magic to a much-needed win over
the eventual NBA champs.

On Thursday, it was a trio of injured players during the
preseason that lifted Orlando to their sixth straight win with a
99-90 over the Spurs.

The threesome of Rashard Lewis - Orlando's summertime free-agent
catch, Trevor Ariza and Keyon Dooling, combined for 28 points,
which was large considering the three had played sparingly
during the preseason. Most notably from a financial standpoint
was Lewis, who the Magic are paying $118 million. Lewis didn't
make it past the first half of the first two games and, like
Ariza, has sat out the past four games with an injured right
ankle.

"If it wasn't a new team and a new coach and I knew all the
schemes I'd be ready, but I don't," said Lewis, who accounted
for eight of his 16 points in the third period. "I'm having to
learn everything on the fly."

"After the first quarter, Rashard started to get more and more
comfortable and played a lot more aggressively, looking to
score," Orlando coach Stan Van Gundy said. "And that's why he's
here."

Dooling, making his preseason debut after sustaining an
abdominal injury early in training camp, contributed eight
points, three assists and two steals.

The eight-year pro scored all of his points in the fourth to
help prevent the Spurs from getting any closer than seven
points.

"I thought Keyon was tentative at first, but that happens with
guys that haven't played," Van Gundy said. "I think that as he
got more minutes as the game went on he played well. But I was
really happy with everyone tonight."

Manu Ginobli led the Spurs with 21 points and five assists.

The game marked the final preseason game for the Magic, who open
their regular season on Wednesday against the Milwaukee Bucks.